Introduction
Do no further harm.
Q Monitor the person’s breathing and level of
consciousness.
Q Help the person rest in the most comfortable
position.
Q Keep the person from getting chilled or
overheated.
Q Reassure the person that you will help and that
EMS personnel have been called (if appropriate).
Q Give care consistent with your knowledge and
training as needed, and continue to watch for
First Aid care for sudden illness.
stand behind the person, with one foot in front
of the other for balance and stability. If possible,
place your front foot between the person’s feet.
Wrap your arms around the person’s waist.
Alternatively, if the person is a child, you can kneel
behind the child, wrapping your arms around the
child’s waist. Find the person’s navel by placing
one finger on the person’s navel, and the adjacent
finger above the first. Make a fist with your other
hand and place the thumb side just above your
fingers. Cover your fist with your other hand and
give quick, inward and upward thrusts into the
person’s abdomen.
What are abdominal thrusts?
Recognizing that an emergency exists.
Deciding to take action.
Activating the EMS system.
Giving care until EMS personnel take over.
Role in EMS
A legal concept referring to the assumption that an unresponsive person would give permission to be helped if responsive.
What is implied consent.
The sooner someone
recognizes that a person is in cardiac arrest and
calls 9-1-1 or the designated emergency number,
the sooner people capable of providing advanced
life support will arrive on the scene.
Activation of the emergency medical
services (EMS) system.
•
Do no further harm.
Monitor the person's breathing and level of
consciousness.
Help the person rest in the most comfortable
position.
Keep the person from getting chilled or overheated.
1
•
Reassure the person by telling the person that
you will help and that EMS personnel have been
called (if appropriate).
Give care consistent with your knowledge and
training as needed, and continue to watch for
changes in the person's condition.
Giving care to someone.
First, get the infant into position
for back blows. Place your forearm along the
infant’s back, cradling the back of the infant’s
head with your hand. Place your other forearm
along the infant’s front, supporting the infant’s jaw
with your thumb and fingers. (Be careful not to
cover the infant’s mouth with your hand while you
are supporting the infant’s jaw.) Turn the infant
over so that he or she is face-down along your
forearm. Lower your arm onto your thigh so that
the infant’s head is lower than his or her chest.
Continue to support the infant’s jaw with the
thumb and fingers of one hand while you firmly
strike the infant between the shoulder blades with
the heel of your other hand. Keep your fingers up
to avoid hitting the infant’s head or neck.
What are infant back blows?
is inflammation of the liver, an
organ that performs many vital functions for
the body. There are many different types and
causes of hepatitis. Hepatitis B, hepatitis C
and hepatitis D are caused by infection with
bloodborne viruses. Chronic infection with the
viruses that cause hepatitis B, C or D can lead
to liver failure, liver cancer and other serious
conditions.
What is Hepatitis?
Before you
reach the person, try to form an initial impression about the person's condition and what is wrong. For
example, does the person seem alert, or confused or sleepy? Look at the person's skin—does it appear to
be its normal color, or does it seem pale, ashen (gray) or flushed? Is the person moving, or motionless?
Does the person have any immediately identifiable injuries? Look for signs of a life-threatening illness
or injury, such as loss of consciousness, trouble breathing or severe bleeding. If you see severe, life-
threatening bleeding, use the resources available to you to control the bleeding as soon as possible
(see Chapter 6).
What is your initial impression about the nature of the person's illness or injury?
....... Are spread when
blood from an infected person enters the
bloodstream of a person who is not infected.
Bloodborne illnesses that are of particular
concern include human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) infection and hepatitis B, C and D.
Fortunately, although bloodborne pathogens
can cause serious illnesses, they are not easily
transmitted and are not spread by casual
contact. Remember, for infection to occur,
an infected person's blood must enter your
bloodstream. This could happen through direct
or indirect contact with an infected person's
blood if it comes in contact with your eyes, the
mucous membranes that line your mouth and
nose, or an area of broken skin on your body.
What is Bloodborne Pathogens.
•
•
State your name.
State the type and level of training that you have (such as training in first aid or CPR).
Explain what you think is wrong.
Explain what you plan to do.
Ask if you may help.
How to get consent to assist?
position
yourself to the side and slightly behind the
person. For a child, you may need to kneel. Place
one arm diagonally across the person’s chest (to
provide support) and bend the person forward at
the waist so that the person’s upper body is as
close to parallel to the ground as possible. Firmly
strike the person between the shoulder blades
with the heel of your other hand.
What are back blows?
2 pairs of latex-free gloves
Latex-free adhesive bandages
(3 of each of the following sizes):
0 1 x 3 inches
0 3/4 x 3 inches
o Large fingertip
O Knuckle
(5
z
8 sterile gauze pads (2 x 2 inches)
8 sterile gauze pads (4 x 4 inches)
1 roll of adhesive cloth tape (21/2 yards x
% inch)
4 roller bandages (2 inches or 3 inches x
4 yards)
4 roller bandages (4 inches x 4 yards)
First Aid Kit ingredients.
Make sure you have ready access to items that will make it easier to
respond to an emergency, should one occur. Keep a first aid kit in your
home and vehicle (Box 1-1), and know the location of the first aid kit and
automated external defibrillator (AED) in your workplace. Download the
American Red Cross First Aid app to your mobile device so that you always
Cross
Be Red
have a first aid reference at your fingertips.
Preparing for emergencies.
Provided
by EMS personnel at the scene and
en route to the hospital, early advanced
life support gives the person access to
emergency medical care delivered by trained
professionals.
Early advanced life support.
occurs when blood flow to part of the
heart muscle is blocked (e.g., as a result of coronary artery
disease). Because the cells in the affected area of the
heart muscle are not receiving the oxygen and nutrients
they need, they die, causing permanent damage to the
heart muscle (Figure 3-1). Seeking advanced medical care
as soon as you recognize the signs and symptoms of a
heart attack can minimize the damage to the heart and may
save the person’s life.
Symptoms of heart attack.
Because cardiac arrest in children
often occurs as the result of a preventable
injury (such as trauma, drowning, choking or
electrocution), the Pediatric Cardiac Chain of
Survival has “prevention” as the first link.
Prevention for cardiac arrest.
is a virus that invades and destroys the
cells that help us to fight off infections. A
person who is infected with HIV may look
and feel healthy for many years. However,
during this time, the virus is breaking down
the person's immune system. Eventually, a
person who is infected with HIV may develop
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
A person with AIDS is unable to fight off
infections that a healthy person would be
able to resist or control. The person dies from
one of these infections. Although medications
have been developed to help slow the
progression of HIV infection, currently there is
no cure.
What is HIV?
The location of the emergency (the address, or
nearby intersections or landmarks if the address
is not known)
• The nature of the emergency (e.g., whether
police, fire or medical assistance is needed)
•
The telephone number of the phone being used
A description of what happened
The number of injured or ill people
What help, if any, has been given so far, and by
whom
(5
Call for emergency
are pathogens that are
expelled into the air when an infected person
breathes, coughs or sneezes. Infection spreads
when a person who is not infected inhales
respiratory droplets containing the pathogens.
Examples of airborne illnesses include
tuberculosis and influenza.
Airborne pathogens.
O
3
z
o
With this information, an ill or injured person can grant his or her consent for care. Someone who is
unresponsive, confused or mentally impaired may not be able to grant consent. In these cases, the law
assumes the person would give consent if he or she were able to do so.
Implied consent.
Next, place one hand along the
infant’s back, cradling the back of the infant’s
head with your hand. While continuing to support
the infant’s jaw with the thumb and fingers of
your other hand, support the infant between your
forearms and turn the infant over so that he or
she is face-up along your forearm. Lower your
arm onto your thigh so that the infant’s head is
lower than his or her chest. Place the pads of
two fingers in the center of the infant’s chest, on
the breastbone just below the nipple line. Press
down about 11⁄2 inches and then let the chest
return to its normal position, keeping your fingers
in contact with the breastbone. Each
What are infant chest thrusts?
CPR circulates oxygen-containing
blood to the brain and other vital organs,
helping to prevent brain damage and death.
Early CPR.
is a bacterial infection of the
lungs that is spread through the air from one
person to another. Although tuberculosis
primarily affects the lungs, it can also affect
the bones, brain, kidneys and other organs.
If not treated, tuberculosis can be fatal.
Treatment is complex and involves taking
many different medications over an extended
period of time.
What is tuberculosis?
After the person is resuscitated,
an interdisciplinary team of medical
professionals works to stabilize the person’s
medical condition, minimize complications,
and diagnose and treat the underlying cause
of the cardiac arrest to improve survival
outcomes.
Integrated post–cardiac arrest
care. After